Alternating Between Flow and Reflexivity: Transformational Dramaturgy of Boal and Semiotic Autonomy of Spect-actor

In experimental modes of performance and especially Postdramatic theatre, the question of spectatorship has become the core of theatrical aesthetics. In his Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal introduced a transformational dramaturgy derived from Brechtian aesthetics, in which theatre is treated as ‘event’ and performed through devices of ‘interruption’, ‘dialogism’, ‘polyvocality’, ‘detachment’ and ‘de-representation’. Boal modeled his audience members ‘Spect-actors’ who when invited on stage oscillate between ‘flow and ‘reflexivity’; between the character and speaking about the character. This paper explores Boal’s theoretical framework in an attempt to reveal how his unique style of performance transforms a spectator into an actor who transports between the ‘real world’ and ‘world of performance’. The paper reveals how the use of interruption as a technique enables the spectator to use/deploy his/her intellectual and semiotic capabilities. The paper explores the significance of ‘interruption’ as theatrical device in liberating the spectator through restoring his/her semiotic autonomy.